Cot death linked to sleeping with baby

PARENTS were yesterday warned that sharing a bed with an infant less than eight weeks of age increases the risk of cot death.

Previously it had been assumed that under normal circumstances sleeping with your baby was safe and even beneficial.

Only when a mother smoked or had been drinking or taking drugs was the practice thought to be dangerous.

But new research published in The Lancet medical journal says all bed-sharing could be unsafe for very young infants in the first eight weeks of life.

Registrar of the National Sudden Infant Death Register in Ireland, Evelyn Ryan, said their data showed that bed-sharing did not pose a risk if the infant is placed back in the cot to sleep.

“You can take your baby to bed to feed him, or whatever, and that’s fine but, ideally, he should be put back into his own cot to sleep,” she said.

Bed-sharing had been identified as a risk factor and certain babies were vulnerable. “It is only when these vulnerable babies come in contact with the risk factor that sudden death can occur so the practice is best avoided,” said Ms Ryan.

Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) director Joyce Epstein said: “The safest place for a baby to sleep is in a separate cot in the parents’ bedroom.

“Today, FSID will start alerting parents to the fact that research has found a link between cot death and bed-sharing with babies under eight weeks of age.”

The European study, which looked at 745 cot-death cases, confirmed a range of other risk factors that were already known.

They included babies being placed face down, having their heads covered in bedding and sleeping under a duvet. Smoking in the home was also linked to cot death.

Six out of 10 of all cot-death cases in Europe could probably be attributed to lying babies on their front or side, said the researchers.

Professor Robert Carpenter, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who took part in the study, said: “Our analysis shows that the risk of cot death may be substantially reduced by taking a number of simple steps, most crucially ensuring the infant is put to sleep on its back, with no bedding other than a jumpsuit or Babygro, or in a well-fitting cotton or acrylic sleeping bag of not more than two or three tog.

“Use of a sleeping bag avoids the risks associated with using a duvet, and may also reduce the risk of a child overheating or sweating, and by restricting a child’s movement ensures its head does not become covered.

“Smoking before, during, and after birth were highly correlated,” said Professor Carpenter.